Ice, ice baby

Yo!

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend. I had a fab time in Italy (no pictures allowed though as the dress is being worn again at the reception next weekend)- the weather was lovely, the scenery was fab, and Venice was interesting. We must have walked for miles while we were there, especially on Saturday as we had to check out of our hotel in the morning, but our flight was not till 11pm, so we had all day to walk (bar a 20 min sit down on a bench). Our holidays are hard core- we don’t have a sit down in a cafe or anything like that! We take cereal bars and bananas and have that as lunch while we walk! Sunday we spent most of the day walking too- around Whipsenade with my parents.

Then to today.

I had an 18 mile run, which was supposed to be done on Saturday, so that was the plan for today. I nearly did not go, as when I was about to leave I had to spend about 10 mins searching for my water bottle, which I knew I had already filled up this morning. Eventually found it in the fridge.

I set off, and just reminded myself to go slow. Mostly when I checked my watch, it was telling me 11.30ish per mile, which I think I will be able to maintain for the entire distance.

Times I cried- 1 (when they said on MT that there will be times in the race that is really hard- this was at about 16 miles for me I think so it was getting hard).

Runners I passed who smiled at me- 3 (hooray)

Runners I passed who did not smile- 3 (boo)

Total time- 3 hours 28 minutes.

Once home I braved an ice bath! First I had some chocolate milk and a nice hot shower to wash my hair etc. Then I put on a warm jumper, filled the bath with an inch of cold water, tipped in a tray of ice cubes and sat in (my poor toes!)- then topped up with more cold water. I had the radio on (and my bean burgers cooking in the oven for lunch) so was only in there 10 mins (until the pinger on the oven went)- although getting back out was a bit of a challenge- I was having visions of Andy getting home later with me stuck in the bath and the oven on fire.

It was rather weird drying my legs when I could not actually feel my skin- totally numb. I also shivered a lot- is that normal?

Anyway, now it is time for compression socks, and watching some of the London Marathon (I taped it because I love to watch it and knew I would miss most of it yesterday).

Now I am getting super nervous about my sports massage tomorrow- I have told them it is my first one, but I don’t really know what to expect- can anyone enlighten me a little?

11 thoughts on “Ice, ice baby”

The only massages I’ve ever had have been sports massages (I didn’t get my first massage til I was 20! Can you believe that?!) so I don’t know how they differ from a ‘regular’ massage. I am ALWAYS sore the next day though…and drink a lot of water! You’ll wake up feeling icky the next day if you don’t.

You are so brave getting in an ice bath. I’ve never had one, but I’d say that the numbness and shivering is pretty normal – that’s how I react when I get cold. Having said that I have really bad circulation.

Thanks peeps 🙂
Sarah- I get chillblains often in my toes,so getting in was hard (but then I kept them out of the water). My nails did go blue, so we shall see if it was worth it!
Stacey- I tried not to think about it and just did it!
Laura- I wish every runner would smile! But some people are too “in the zone” or something.
Rob- thanks- you have helped calm my nerves a bit!

Ugh, ice baths are rough, but they really do help! And you know I really don’t think you have to worry about making the 6 hour cutoff in the marathon. You are training so well, and preparing yourself really well. Even listening to MT and knowing that it’s going to be tough — that in itself will help you on the day. When it gets really hard you’ll be able to think back to that podcast and remind yourself that you were expecting to feel like this, and that if you just keep pushing on, your mood will eventually lift again of its own accord and you’ll feel amazing!

Sports massages: if you don’t want to strip to your underwear, then wear loose (and short) fitting bottoms. Also, I’d consider having your shoulders and neck done too, as you’ve had some pain there. I would just wear a regular bra that can be easily unhooked. As for the pain, they’ll increase the pressure slowly, so you won’t be shocked into screaming! Expect it to hurt though, and to be sort in the days following. It’s great after a long one like and 18 miler though, it’ll help your recovery no end 🙂

ps — don’t be worried about the undressing thing btw — the times I’ve been they’ve always given me the option of what to do about my clothing. They’ll work round it if they need to

Thanks Alison- I think as the time gets closer I am just beginning to panic a little!
Thanks for the advice about the sports massage- will let you know how I got on later.
Jemma- I felt a bit loony sat in the bath shivering with a jumper on. But they are meant to help…
Florence looks amazing- that is another place I would love to visit.

Shivering is the bodies natural reaction to being cold. The body does it to try and generate some heat. So it’s quiet normal. I’m always quite nervous about the idea of trying an ice bath on my own incase I can’t get out! I guess the safety tip is make sure you’re within easy arms reach of the hot water tap so you can throw that on if you’re struggling to get out and defrost yourself that way.